Bitcoin’s Downside Drift Suggests Increased Bearish Bias

Bitcoin price failed to break the key USD 7,400 resistance and declined more than USD 1,000.

Ethereum, bitcoin cash and ripple tumbled more than 20%.

IOST, BCN, STRAT and a few other altcoins declined between 25-30%.

Yesterday, we discussed an important resistance zone near USD 7,400. Bitcoin failed to surpass the stated resistance and tumbled more than USD 1,000 during the past three sessions. BTC/USD is down roughly 15% and broke key supports like USD 7,100, USD 6,800, USD 6,500 and USD 6,400. Similarly, there were heavy declines noted in major altcoins like ethereum, bitcoin cash, ripple, litecoin, eos, neo and ICON. It seems like the market sentiment turned bearish and the last fifteen days gains were trimmed in a single day. Meanwhile, a few main theories took hold of the community, who's trying to understand what's going on in the market - read about them here.

Total market capitalization

Source: coinmarketcap.com

Bitcoin
The USD 7,400 resistance proved worth as bitcoin price reacted to the downside and declined heavily. BTC/USD sellers took control and pushed the price towards the USD 6,250 support. The price is currently (UTC 08:30 AM) consolidating gains above USD 6,250, but it remains at a risk of more losses.
On the downside, a break below the USD 6,250 support could push the price back towards the USD 6,000 handle. On the flip side, if the price corrects higher, it could face a strong resistance near the USD 6,500 and USD 6,600 levels.

Ethereum
Ethereum price broke the last major support at USD 250 and traded to a new multi month low near USD 210. ETH/USD is under a lot of bearish pressure and it seems like sellers could push the price towards the USD 200 handle.
On the upside, buyers are likely to face a lot of selling interest close to the USD 240 and USD 250 levels in the near term.

Watch the latest reports by Block TV.

Bitcoin cash and ripple
Bitcoin cash price trimmed most of its last week’s gain and declined more than USD 100. BCH/USD is down around 22% and it broke the USD 550 and USD 520 support levels. It is now trading near the USD 500 level with an immediate support at USD 480. On the upside, resistances are at USD 520 and 530.
Ripple price broke the USD 0.300 and 0.280 supports before buyers appeared near USD 0.265. XRP/USD is currently correcting higher towards the USD 0.288 and USD 0.295 resistance levels.

Clearly, bitcoin and altcoins suffered heavy losses during the past few hours. The market sentiment changed to bearish and if BTC/USD fails to stay above the USD 6,250 and USD 6,000 support levels, there could be more declines in the coming days. More importantly, a close below USD 200 in ETH/USD may well put a lot of pressure on other altcoins.